Royal Mail: Flotation

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much was paid to each of the financial advisers on the flotation of Royal Mail; whether that amount included a performance bonus; and if so, what was the size of that bonus and the basis on which performance was assessed, and which minister was responsible for approving the bonus.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The fees paid to all advisers working on the flotation of Royal Mail were set out on page 26 of the National Audit Office’s report on the privatisation of Royal Mail published on 1 April. The fees paid to financial advisers were as follows:
	
		
			 Firm Fee (£m) 
			 UBS 0.3 
			 Lazard 1.5 
			 Deloitte 0.7 
			 Underwriting banks (Goldman Sachs, UBS, Barclays, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Investec Nomura and Royal Bank of Canada) 12.7 
		
	
	None of these advisers have been paid a bonus.
	The underwriting banks shared £12.7 million for selling shares to institutional investors, i.e. 0.9% of proceeds from their sales. The underwriters were also eligible for a discretionary element of 0.3%. No decision has been made about the payment of this discretionary element. The underwriters’ maximum fee of 1.2% of the institutional proceeds compares with 2.5% for the previous Government’s flotation of QinetiQ.

Channel Islands

Lord Morrow: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 3 February (WA 17), whether court orders handed down in the United Kingdom are enforceable in the Channel Islands; and, if not, what action is taken in those circumstances to ensure the safety and protection of vulnerable persons.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Channel Islands (the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey) are Crown Dependencies. The Crown Dependencies are not part of the UK but are self-governing dependencies of the Crown, with their own directly elected legislative assemblies, administrative, fiscal and legal systems and their own courts of law. Judgments of the courts of England and Wales are not, therefore , of themselves effective in the Bailiwicks of Guernsey or Jersey, but it is possible for UK court orders to be recognised and enforced if they meet certain established criteria whether pursuant to statute, or pursuant to the common or customary law. Much depends upon the circumstances and type of offence committed or judgment made.
	Criminal law in Scotland and Northern Ireland is devolved, meaning that responsibility for such matters lie with the devolved administrations of Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.
	There is excellent co-operation between Common Travel Area (CTA) partners, including the UK and the Channel Islands, to prevent abuse of the CTA by strengthening its external border. The UK Government is working with the Channel Islands authorities to ensure that the implications of the Modern Slavery Bill and the Modern Slavery action plan for the Common Travel Area are fully understood.
	UK Border Force staff receive mandatory training to help identify and tackle human trafficking, and to date we have not seen any evidence that individuals are being trafficked to the UK via the Channel Islands. However, we remain alert and will act on any information received.